This collection holds 2 volumes of meeting minutes (approximately 550 pages total) and 1 volume of dividend payment records (approximately 70 pages) documenting the official affairs of the Gloucester Manufacturing Company of Gloucester, New Jersey.
The first 2 volumes (13.5"x8"x2" and 13"x8"x2") contain approximately 550 pages of minutes from meetings of the Gloucester Manufacturing Company's directors and stockholders, compiled between December 4, 1850, and April 20, 1909. The first volume begins with a manuscript copy of the company's charter, followed by 3 brief administrative notes and meeting minutes recorded between December 4, 1850, and June 25, 1894. The second volume contains meeting minutes recorded between November 10, 1894, and April 20, 1909. Most meetings were held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Minutes document the company's internal affairs, such as its finances and elections of its board of directors and other personnel. Many sets of minutes include financial statements about the company's assets and liabilities, often printed or written on enclosures pasted or laid into the volumes. Several records made during the Civil War allude to the war's impact on manufacturing, such as the effects of new commercial legislation and the depressed economy. The minutes made in the spring of 1909 concern aspects of the company's dissolution, such as the sale of its equipment and other property. Both volumes of minutes contain several enclosures, primarily related to the Gloucester Manufacturing Company's financial affairs. These include a printed pamphlet containing its original charter and by-laws, printed in 1862; convertible loan documents; receipts and payment notices; reports on profits and losses; and typed sets of minutes, integrated into the main chronological sequence.
The third volume (15.5"x6"x.75", approximately 70 pages) holds records of dividends the Gloucester Manufacturing Company paid to its stockholders between July 1, 1859, and March 24, 1909. Each record consists of the check number, recipient's name, amount of stock held, amount of dividend due, date of payment receipt, and recipient's signature. Many items are laid or pasted into the volume, such as receipts and payment notices. Several late items, all dated March 24, 1909, document the company's purchase of its stock from shareholders prior to its dissolution.
